Solar ponds

A Technical Seminar
Presented
By
B. KEERTHI
(07761A0318)

Mechanical department

Lakireddy Balireddy College of Engineering

Mylavaram
Introduction

Formally known as a salinity gradient solar pond, solar ponds are an alternative source of
harnessing the suns energy to heat water that can be converted to electricity. This
technology is very basic and easy to use with adequate land space and proper design. For
residential use, ponds need to be at least 12x12 feet and 3 feet deep and for commercial use
ponds must be sized according to their functionality. Solar ponds require lots of sunlight
and salt water. The first solar pond was discovered in the early 1900s in Transylvania and
was naturally occurring. Following this discovery these ponds were replicated and dubbed
solar ponds.

How they work

Solar ponds can be naturally occurring; however, most ponds are man-made. Once the
pond is dug, the pond must be lined with an impermeable lining, preferable one that is
insulating. Then the pond is filled with salty water. Once the sun hits the pond the water
warms and divides into three layers. The top layer, known as the surface zone, is composed
of primarily freshwater due to the fact that salt typically settles at the bottom of water.
The middle layer is known as the insulation zone. The insulation zone has a higher salt
concentration than the surface zone. Crucial to a solar pond is the bottom layer known as
the storage zone. The storage zone is where all the hot water is held and this is what is
converted into electricity. The hot salt water produced is similar in chemical
characteristics to brine.
 Diagram of the different layers of a solar pond

In a typical freshwater pond, when the sun penetrates the water the layers that are heated
up rise to the top of the pond and release the heat into the atmosphere. This is how a pond
maintains a constant temperate. The oxygen in warm water is greater than cold water.
This causes warm water to rise to the top of the water body and this heat is then released.

However, in a solar pond this process does not happen. Instead the water that is warmed is
unable to rise to the top due to the salt concentration. Therefore, the warm water stays at
the bottom of a pond and gets hotter and hotter with the more sunlight it receives. The
bottom layer of a solar pond can reach 178 degrees farenheit.

What allows a solar pond to be used as an energy source is that a pipe is placed at the
bottom of the pond and draws the warm/ hot water out of the pond by a pump and is
circulated through a piping system that utilizes the heat. It is similar to how radiant heat,
or solar hot water heaters use the warm water. Once the water has run through the pipe it
is deposited back into the pond in the storage zone so this water can be heated again. This
system is a close system so is quite efficient in terms of water retention. Typically this is
how a solar pond is used for heating purposes.

Solar ponds can be used in all climates as Long as there is plenty of sun. Even when a pond
is frozen over, a salient gradient solar pond still produces hot water. Therefore, they can
be used all over the United States and the world.
Using a solar pond

Solar ponds have a number of uses. They are effective for heating facilities such as
industrial complexes, greenhouses, and agricultural building. When used for heat, it is
hard to regulate the temperature; therefore solar ponds are typically used in situations that
the heat temperature does not have to be regulated.

Solar ponds are also used to produce electricity. In this case, the hot water produced is
used to spin a turbine which generates electricity.5 Some solar ponds rely on solar
powered pumps to push the water through the piping. This is a renewable and
environmentally friend system for electricity production.

A visual demonstration of how a solar pond is used to generate electricity

Solar ponds can also be used for desalinization. Since the saltiest water separates into the
storage and insulation zone, the top layer of water is fresh, potable water. In fact, the
United States government used solar pond technology for this purpose:

The Water Desalination Research and Development (DesalR&D) Program was

authorized by Congress under the Water Desalination Act (Act) of 1996. The Act
 authorized program funding beginning October 1997 for a six year period. To start
the program, funding was appropriated at $3.7 million for fiscal year 1998... The Act
is based on the fundamental need in the US and world-wide for additional sources of
potable water.

Solar ponds have the above mentioned uses and are valuable for a producing renewable
and environmentally friendly heat and electricity.

Solar ponds in India:

Table enlist the various solar ponds constructed in India. The first solar pond in India was
constructed at Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) in
Bhavnagar, Gujarat in 1971. Extensive studies on heat extraction pattern, effect of rainfall
on salinity gradient and overall variation of temperature profiles were conducted at
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1984. Another pond of 400 m² areas was
constructed at Mysore, Karnataka around 1990 with the purpose of meeting the hot water
requirements of a village. A 6000 m² area solar pond was commissioned by Government of
India and executed by Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Gujarat Dairy
Development Corporation Limited (GDDC) and Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI)
at Bhuj, Gujarat State. Its cost was Rs.3.167 million and could supply 80000 litres of hot
water at 70oC daily for washing, cleaning of aluminium cans, pasteurising and boiler
activity. The pond was successfully established by the end of 1990 and developed liner leak
due to high LCZ temperature of 99˚C during May 1991. The pond was then operated from
September, 1993 to February, 1995 and thereafter it was dysfunctional up to March 1996
due to lack of funds. The pond has again been commissioned from July 1996 and
operational till date. A similar project has been sanctioned to Pondicherry Electricity
Board.
The Government of India has evinced keen interest in solar pond research by providing
financial aid to the ponds constructed at Bhuj and Pondicherry. However, serious efforts
are required to make this technology economically viable.
Solar ponds

Location Year Area Salt used

Bhavnagar, Gujarat 1971 1200 Bittern
Pondicherry 1980 100 Sodium chloride
Bhavnagar, Gujarat 1980 1600 Bittern
IIT, Kharagpur 1983 16 Sodium chloride
IISc, Bangalore 1984 240 Sodium chloride
Bhuj, Gujarat 1990 6000 Bittern
Masur, Karnataka 1990 400 Sodium chloride

Scope of Solar Ponds:

The solar ponds are widely considered as the low temperature energy storage devices
having use in wide range of process applications. The following section deals with scope of
the applications of solar pond heat adopted in various processes.

Greenhouse heating

Sokolov and Arbel demonstrated the use of fresh water solar pond for greenhouse heating
purpose. The pond comprised an excavation in the earth with liner and a thin top cover.
The water was used as a heat transferring fluid during periods of solar radiation. Energy
was delivered to the greenhouse by pumping hot water from the upper layer of the pond
through a heat exchanger. The water returned after heat extraction to the bottom of solar
pond. In another study, Arbel and Sokolov studied different collector materials having
different material properties and concluded that the use of appropriate material improves

the solar pond performance. Riva studied a 20 m2 solar pond for two years before

constructing a bigger pond of 140-160 m2 area. The energy efficiency was found to be 10
to 20 percent during preliminary testing. The energy was intended for air heating in a

dryer of 40-50 m2 area.

Process heat in dairy plants

The hot water requirements for sterilisation and pasteurisation in a dairy plant at Bhuj of

Kutch district of Gujarat State is being met from a solar pond of 6000m2 areas. The hot

water temperature was in the range of 84 to 95o C during the pond operation period.

Desalination:

Desalination involves the process of obtaining fresh water for drinking and irrigation from
either brackish or saline water after suitable treatment. The solar energy has been utilized
for distillation of brackish or saline water for a very long time. A solar pond multi effect
distillation (SPMED) system as shown in Fig comprises a set of evaporative condensers
and heat exchanger extracting heat from the solar pond. The fresh water is produced
through repetitive cycles of evaporation and condensation, using low temperature heat

from the solar ponds.

Schematic diagram of solar pond desalination

1. Multi stage flash pan, 2. Fresh water 3.Brackish water 4.Hot Brine 5. Heat exchanger
6. Cold brine 7. Solar pond 8. Diffuser
Tabor (1975) showed that a pond of 1/3 km2 area could operate a multi-effect distillation

unit, with an annual mean output of 4000 m3/day at a rate of US $ 0.67/ m3. He further
remarked that a solar pond desalination plant produces about 5 times the quantity

produced from simple tray type solar still. A 20000 m2 solar pond in Italy was used for
desalination of seawater to produce 120 t of fresh water/day.

Power production

Some of the major solar pond power plants are listed in Table 2.3. In these plants, the
solution from the lower convective zone is pumped to a heat exchanger that acts as
evaporator for an organic Rankine cycle. Trieb et al made a comparative analysis of
different solar electricity generation options and found that solar pond produces
electricity at a cost of 0.254 German Marks (DM)/kWh as against 1.198 German Marks
(DM)/ kWh for photovoltaic cells.

Prominent solar ponds used for electricity power generation

Name/site Power, kW Pond area, m2 Operation period

Ein Boqek, Israel 150 6250 1979-1986
Beith Ha’Arava, Israel 5000 250000 1984-1989
Alice Springs,
15 1600 1985-1989

Australia 70 (Electricity)
El Paso, United States 3350 1986- till date

330 (Process heat)

Hot water applications in agriculture:

Many of the agricultural operations involve hot water application for different purposes.
Some of them include paddy soaking in parboiling, sugarcane sett treatment, vegetable
blanching, washing of cans in dairy industry and domestic hot water consumption.
Traditionally, parboiling process involves soaking of rough rice in water at ambient
temperature in masonry tanks for 3 days and steaming of drained paddy. The method was

later improved to soak the paddy in hot water at around 70o C for few hours depending
upon the type of parboiling method. This method could eliminate unwanted odours
associated with traditional method and reduce the soaking time from a few days to a few
hours.

Heat therapy of sugarcane sets before planting is desirable to raise the crop free
from seed piece diseases and certain insect pests. Conventionally the sets are treated in hot

water at a temperature of 50o C for 2 hours and at 54o C for 4 hours in humid hot air.

It is clear that the solar ponds have a great scope in agricultural applications with low
temperature requirements. It is equally important to understand the practical aspects
involved with the operation and maintenance of solar ponds so that the real situation solar
ponds can be properly managed.

Management of Solar Ponds:

Solar ponds need special techniques of operation and regular maintenance. Following are
a few practical aspects of operating a solar pond.

Operational

The operational aspects essentially involve the methods of filling a solar pond in the
beginning and managing it for continuous use.

Filling the pond

The filling of pond assumes significance as it involves the establishment of density gradient
along the solar pond depth. Zangrando developed a technique that was widely adapted in
other ponds. This technique involves the filling of solar pond initially with high saline
solution to a depth equal to depth of lower convective zone + half the depth of no
convective zone. Later the dilution is made starting from the interface of the two zones.
This method of filling the pond is widely practised.
Maintenance of brine transparency

Algal growth mainly affects brine transparency. Chlorination provides the solution to
control algal growth. Scientists reported similar measure for ammonium sulphate solar
pond.

Top zone flushing

Due to salt diffusion from lower layers to the top layers, the flushing of top zone is
necessary to maintain the salt gradient stability in the solar pond. Top zone flushing
involves the process of removal of top saline layer and injecting fresh water to the pond
surface. Sherman and Imberger suggested from their simulation study that no washing
was required if the salinity in the top zone was less than 3 per cent and there was no
tangible benefit to maintain the top zone at less than 2 per cent salinity. Other works on
top zone flushing involved top zone flushing at regular intervals.

Heat extraction

An external tubular heat exchanger for heat extraction from the solar pond was also used.
However the 0.1kW pump used to pump the salt solution from lower convective zone to
the heat exchanger developed shaft seal failure after a few hours of operation. Solar pond
experiments were conducted with three heat exchangers viz., a titanium heat exchanger
(external), a copper heat exchanger (immersed), and a plastic heat exchanger (immersed).
Out of these the copper heat exchanger was found to be most reliable. Hull et al (1985)
demonstrated polypropylene heat exchanger though its effectiveness is less than that of a

copper heat exchanger. Shell and tube heat exchanger with a heat transfer area of 36.1 m2

for a heat duty of 341000 kcal-hr-1 was used for hot water supply to the dairy plant in
Bhuj. The heat exchanger could operate for almost two years without any major problem.
Further, the steel pipes used for piping of the heat exchanger corroded severely in a year
and were replaced by polypropylene pipes. Use of submerged heat exchangers was ruled
out for large ponds.
Problems frequently encountered:

Solar ponds being relatively a new development still encounter a few practical problems
during its operation. The following section deals with some of the frequently occurring
problems experienced in the solar pond operation.

Liner leak

Liner leak is one of the most common problems reported in the context of solar ponds in
India. Srinivasan (1992) reported salt leak due to liner failure in a solar pond
constructed at Masur, Karnataka. The leak forced to abandon the solar pond. The

damage to the liners occurred in the regions where the temperature exceeded 75oC.
Though the liner leak in this pond is attributed to recycled plastics used in liner, people
felt that the leak could have still occurred due to the low oven life of LDPE material. A
similar salt leak was reported at Bhuj, Gujarat on account of liner failure when the LCZ

temperature increased to 99oC. Solar ponds constructed at Pondicherry and Hubli also
faced the problem of liner leak forcing them to be abandoned.

Corrosion of material

Scientists reported the possibility of rapid corrosion of copper metal by ammonium

sulphate. In the absence of chlorine, ammonia has a relatively low corrosion on steel and
aluminium. Some of them reported of frequent shut down of the titanium heat exchanger
because of seal failure in the brine pump. Studies were done on the corrosion of copper
tubes immersed in storage zone. About 1% of decrease of mass of copper in a year was
estimated.

Conclusion

Overall, solar ponds are an effective source of renewable and environmentally sustainable heat
and energy. However, widespread adaptation of this technology has not been successful do to
the limited uses of solar ponds. The main constraint for solar ponds is the amount of land they
require. This issue makes developing solar ponds in many part of the world not cost
effective. On the upside, solar ponds can complement commercial electricity production nicely
as showcased in Israel. As the use of oil and coal for electrical and heat production faces more
scrutiny, solar ponds will be a nice addition to a diverse portfolio of renewable and
environmentally friendly energy sources.